The Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK celebrated its 6th International Symposium in Glasgow in June

For the first time, the Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom (SRUK/CERU) celebrated their annual symposium far from the British capital, specifically in Glasgow, with the collaboration of the Spanish Embassy in London among many other institutions.

The new location did not discourage the audience, more than 100 attendees who gathered at the University of Glasgow to take a short trip through sciences from the very beginning of humankind to the latest breakthroughs in engineering, biomedicine and robotics.

After the opening words by the president of SRUK Estrella Luna, counsellor for cultural and scientific affairs Miguel Oliveros and science coordinator Lorenzo Melchor spoke to welcome everyone and to wish a successful event on behalf of the Spanish Embassy in London and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, respectively.

Different Spanish scientists participated during this journey such as José María Bermúdez de Castro (Prince of Asturias Prize and paleo-anthropologist of the National Research Center on Human Evolution, CENIEH), Xurxo Ayán and Blanca Ochoa who debated about the Altamira Caves, or Javier Arroyo and Manuel Martínez from the Technical University of Valencia who explained the Hyperloop UPV project. An additional set of British experts further enriched the programme.

Additionally, SRUK organised ”Science Zone”: a science outreach festival where more than 85 attendees (including children and adults) had the opportunity to better understand science through the experiments that the researchers presented at the different stands.

SRUK also gave the 2nd Merit Award to Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer from Heriot Watt University for her career focused on novel solutions to meet the worldwide strive for energy, with particular emphasis on clean technologies, including carbon dioxide capture, transport, storage and utilization. Among many other recognitions, Prof Maroto-Valer has recently been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Award.